MSG File Format

MSG files are indexted text files. They contain in-game messages, character and item dialogues, and are located in the text\english\game and text\english\dialog folders, respectively.

Format

Each indexed text line has the format: "{}{}{}"

• The first set of curly braces "{}" indicate the line index (number) in decimal format
• The second set of braces (optionally) indicates the name of an ACM file sound
• The third set of braces contain the text to be displayed (dialogue box or observation window)

Dialogue Line Number
       |
       |
  +----+    ACM sound file name
  |                 |
  |                 |
  |            +----+                 Displayed message (dialogue box or observation window)
  |            |                                |
  |            |                                |
  |            |                           +----+
  |            |                           |
  v            v                           v

{100}  {deadbrahmin001}   {You see a horribly mutilated, two-headed cow. Hamburgers, anyone?}

Notes

• The length of the lines between the braces cannot exceed 1024 characters
• Linebreaks inside the braces are allowed *
• At the end of the file there is a blank line (with no characters in it)
• The game only looks for text within braces, which allows leaving comments in between the indexed lines
• Comments are usually preceded by a "#", or a pound symbol, as is used in Fallout's scripting language, Pascal
• Sound files are generally only used in dialog with 'talking heads'

* However, a trailing portion of the string must contain at least one non-space character before the last brace. Otherwise, the game will crash.

Example

Taken from AHHAKUN.MSG - Hakunin's message / dialogue file (Fallout 2)

{100}{}{Before you stands Hakunin, the village shaman. He appraises you with his crazy eyes from somewhere 
in the world only he inhabits.....}
{101}{}{You see Hakunin lying on the ground. He's badly wounded.}
{102}{}{You see Hakunin. He's very near death.}
{103}{}{Hakunin is badly burned. He smells like roast chicken, looks like burnt meatloaf, and you don't know 
how he's managed to stay alive this long.}

#Commentary: the following line of text plays a sound (the sound file is hak001.acm)

{104}{hak001}{Greetings, Chosen. Why does the earth before me warm to the touch of your passing?}
{105}{}{Uh?}

Open with

.MSG files can be opened with any simple text-editing programs, like Notepad or WordPad. Additionally, the Fallout Script Editor has a funtion that allows you to open and edit the message file as well.

TeamX document

Original document at teamx.ru (in russian)